United States Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation
, nominee for Administrator of NASA, center, and Lori Garver, right, nominee for deputy administrator of NASA, testify at their confirmation hearing before the Committee in 2009.]] The United States Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation is a standing committee of the United States Senate.About - U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. [[United States Senate].] It is empowered with legislative oversight of the Coast Guard and Merchant Marine, interstate commerce, communications, highways, aviation, rail, shipping, transportation security, oceans, fisheries, climate change, disasters, science, nonmilitary aeronautical and space sciences, sports, tourism, consumer issues, economic development, technology, competitiveness, product safety, insurance, and standards and measurement. The committee also has jurisdiction over coastal zone management, inland waterways (except construction), the Panama Canal and other interoceanic canals, and commerce aspects of Continental Shelf lands. The Committee is one of the largest in the Senate with 25 members in the 114th Congress. It is composed of seven subcommittees, and the Committee Chairman is Sen. John Thune (R-SD) and its Ranking Member is Sen. Bill Nelson (D-FL). Nelson is the only sitting Member of Congress who served as an astronaut.Payload Specialist Astronaut Bio: Bill Nelson. [[National Aeronautics and Space Administration].] The majority office is housed in the Dirksen Senate Office Building, and the minority office is located in the Hart Senate Office Building. History The Committee has its roots in the Committee on Commerce and Manufacturers, which served as a standing committee in the early-1800s. This committee was split in two in the 1820s and remained in this configuration until the Legislative Reorganization Act of 1946. Under the LRA, the number of standing committees was dramatically decreased to streamline increase congressional efficiency and increase institutional strength. As a result, the Committee on Commerce, the Committee on Manufactures, the Committee on Interstate Commerce, and the Committee on Interoceanic Canals were combined into the United States Senate Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce. In 1977, as a part of widespread committee reorganization, the Committee renamed the Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation and given additional oversight jurisdiction over nonmilitary aeronautical and space sciences, including the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). The original progenitors of this committee were: * United States Senate Committee on Commerce and Manufactures (1816–1825) * United States Senate Committee on Commerce (1825–1946, 1961–1977) * United States Senate Committee on Manufactures (1825–1855, 1864–1946) * United States Senate Committee on Interstate Commerce (1885–1946) * United States Senate Committee on Interoceanic Canals (1899–1946) * United States Senate Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce (1946–1961) * United States Senate Committee on Aeronautical and Space Sciences (1958–1977) Membership Source: , 661–662 Subcommittees Chairmen Committee on Commerce and Manufactures, 1816–1825 Committee on Commerce, 1825–1947 Committee on Interstate Commerce, 1887–1947 Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce, 1947–1961 Committee on Commerce, 1961–1977 Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, 1977–present References External links *Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation website * Commerce Senate Committee Category:NASA oversight Senate Committee Category:Transportation in the United States Category:1816 establishments in the United States Category:Organizations established in 1816